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Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Pacers were first established in 1967 as members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and became members of the NBA in 1976 as a result of the ABA-NBA merger. They play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers have had great success since being established. They have contended in the playoffs for various years. They were, in fact referred to as a dynasty in the ABA.1 They have won three championships, all in the ABA. The Pacers were Eastern Conference champions in 2000. In total, the team has won six conference titles and eight division titles. Five Hall of Fame players, including Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, and Roger Brown played with the Pacers for multiple seasons. 2010–present: Return to contention In the 2010 NBA Draft, the Pacers selected forward/guard Paul George with the 10th overall pick. In the second round, they drafted guard Lance Stephenson, as well as forward Ryan Reid. The draft rights to Reid were traded on draft night to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange to the rights to forward/center Magnum Rolle. The Pacers signed George to his rookie contract on July 1, 2010. Stephenson signed a multi-year contract with the team on July 22. Just before training camp, Rolle was signed, along with big man Lance Allred. Both were cut before the regular season began. On August 11, 2010, the Pacers acquired guard Darren Collison and swingman James Posey from the New Orleans Hornets in a four-team, five-player deal. Troy Murphy was dealt to the New Jersey Nets in that trade. In the 2010–2011 season, the team went 2–3 in the first five games. On November 9 in a home game against Denver, the team scored 54 points in the 3rd quarter alone, shooting 20–21 in the process, on the way to a 144–113 rout of the Nuggets. Led by Mike Dunleavy's 24 points in the period, the team set a franchise record for most points in a quarter and was only four points short of the all-time NBA record for points in a quarter (58) set in the 1970s. On January 30, 2011, the Pacers relieved Jim O'Brien of his coaching duties and named assistant coach Frank Vogel interim head coach. On the NBA's trade deadline on February 24, 2011, numerous sports news outlets, including ESPN, reported that the Pacers had agreed to a three-team trade that would have sent Josh McRoberts to the Memphis Grizzlies and Brandon Rush to the New Orleans Hornets, while the Pacers would have received O.J. Mayo from the Grizzlies in return, and the Hornets would have sent an unidentified player to the Grizzlies. However, the trading period expired at 3:00 pm EST, and the trade paperwork did not reach the NBA's main offices for approval until 3:02 pm. Thus, the trade was canceled and all aforementioned players remained with their original teams. With a victory over the Washington Wizards on April 6, 2011, the Pacers clinched their first playoff berth since 2006. In the first round, they were defeated by the No. 1 seed Chicago Bulls in five games. Despite a lopsided comparison in terms of the two teams' win-loss records, three of the four Pacers losses were close, losing games 1–3 by an average of five points. The Pacers named Vogel their permanent head coach. They got George Hill from the San Antonio Spurs on draft night. After the lockout, the Pacers signed former two-time All-Star power forward David West to a two-year deal. These new players contributed to the Pacers' record of 21-12 at the All Star break. The Pacers acquired another key piece in Leandro Barbosa from the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline, mid-season. At the end of the 2011-12 season, the team, led in scoring by Danny Granger, clinched the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They finished with a 42-24 record, their best record since their 2003-04 season. On May 8, 2012, the Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-87 to win their first playoff series since 2005 and would go on to play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. On May 15, 2012 they defeated Miami to tie the second round series at 1-1. On May 17, they again beat Miami 94-75 to take the series lead 2-1. However, despite a hard fought series between the two, the Heat won Game 6 to close the series at 4-2. On June 26, 2012, general manager, David Morway officially resigned.The following day, president of basketball operations, Larry Bird stepped down. Bird and Morway were officially replaced by Donnie Walsh and Kevin Pritchard, respectively.[6 Walsh returned to the organization after spending the previous three seasons in the Knicks' front office. Pritchard was promoted by the Pacers after serving as the team's director of player personnel. In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Pacers selected Miles Plumlee with the 26th pick and acquired Orlando Johnson, the 36th pick from the Sacramento Kings. The big acquisitions of the 2012 offseason included the signings of Gerald Green and D.J. Augustin. The club also traded for Ian Mahinmi. On April 7, 2013, the Pacers clinched their first Central Division championship since the 2003-04 season. They finished the 2012-13 season with a 49-32 record, the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference and beat the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. The Pacers then beat the New York Knicks in six games to advance to Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004 to face the defending champs, the Miami Heat. The Pacers lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 22, 2013 in overtime 103-102.7 On May 24, 2013 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers were victorious by a score of 97-93. The game was clinched for Indiana, after David West was able to deflect a pass from LeBron James. The team headed home to Indianapolis where they had been a perfect 6-0 in the playoffs. The Heat won Game 3 in Indianapolis on May 26, 2013, with contributions from role players Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen, convincingly 114-96.8 The Pacers bounced back in Game 4 - with a strong contribution from Lance Stephenson - and were victorious 99-92. The Pacers lost Game 5 in Miami on May 30th, but won Game 6 at home on June 1, extending the series to Game 7. The Pacers were defeated by Miami in a 23-point rout, 99-76. During the offseason, the team will be in contract negotiations with David West, the team's lone free agent contributor Indian Pacers Roster Category:Eastern Conference